Promises, Promises
by wishonastar
Summary: James and Moneypenny... what should have happened after Die Another Day and Moneypenny's little 'dream'


**James Bond fanfic**

**Set after Moneypenny's fantasy at the end of Die Another Day**

On hearing R calling her, Moneypenny shot up from the 'desk,' on which she had been enjoying her all too familiar fantasy, and fumbled with her now open blouse buttons.

"Everything alright Moneypenny?" asked the greying gentleman.

"Erm. . Yes. . Yes. . I was just erm. . Testing it out," she mumbled desperately willing the gadgets expert to leave, whilst trying to calm herself. The last thing she needed was news of her, 'misuse of government property,' spreading around the building.

After a not so innocent answer concerning how, 'hard,' 'it,' was, Moneypenny breathed a sigh of relief when Q finally left the room, muttering something about needing to have a serious chat with 007.

Gathering up the files she had originally been sent for, M's faithful secretary made her way back to her office, resigning herself to the fact that it would be a very long evening, if the pile of papers in her hands were anything to go by.

Waiting for the lift, Moneypenny's mind drifted to James; this time the real one, not the one that had just shown her desk such a good time. Jane Moneypenny had never been a weak and feeble damsel in distress, or gawping young girl waiting to be swept off of her feet, but when it came to 007, the original charmer, she was done for.

No matter how many times she berated herself, she just could not help caring for him, a hundred times more than she should.

But then, the other side of her brain would argue, 'I get to see the James that no-one else sees.' Remembering all the times they had sat together in her office and talked until the small hours of the morning, long after everyone else had gone home; and all because Jane was determined to finish a pile of reports, and James refuse to leave her in the building alone.

Moneypenny sighed, "maybe he cares too," she whispered to herself, stepping out of the lift and starting down the corridor to her room.

It occurred to her that, other than unconscious, in a hospital bed, she had not seen James since he returned from his captivity in Korea. Once more, despite her intelligence and common sense, Moneypenny felt herself growing teary, as she remembered that awful time when she had thought that he would not be returning home, and the full weight of how much she had missed him, truly hit her.

It was with this thought that she rounded the corner to her office, only to find him standing there, by her desk.

"Oh shit!" she thought to herself. Her one main aim when with 007 in such circumstances, had always normally been to keep her cool and be as witty and blasé as possible.

Quite difficult when tears are threatening to spill and the man you love is standing in front of you for the first time in months.

"Moneypenny," James sighed, in his usual way, "a feast for my eyes!"

"Hello James," Jane replied, not meeting his eyes, remaining cold and unengaged as she rushed to her desk, her back to him; as the tears began to fall with a mixture of relief and sadness.

Relief because he was back in her life; sadness because she knew he would never truly belong to her.

"Well, not quite the welcome home I was hoping for! No, 'glad you're safe,' kiss then? Ay?" James teased, becoming rather disturbed at this frostiness, very out of character for, 'his Penny.'

But from, 'his Penny,' came only a slight hunching of the shoulders, as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Darling?" he asked, reaching for Jane's shoulder to turn her around. Alarmed at the sight of so many tears, James pulled the shaking form before him into his arms.

"Sweetheart what is it? Tell me, please . ."

"Nothing," she lied, unable to stem the tears just yet; especially not with his strong arms around her, making the pain in some way more bearable and yet worse.

Sensing her unease, James straightened and raised Moneypenny's chin so that her eyes were finally forced to meet his.

Tears subsiding, Jane managed, "I can't do this anymore," before freeing herself from James' hold and reaching for a tissue from her desk.

"Can't do what?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"This . . .this . . Pretending," she replied, against her will and better judgement.

'Oh great!' she thought to herself. An Oxford education and you can't even manage to keep your mouth shut!

"Pretending? Really, I need you to be a little more specific. ."

She cut him off, "Oh James it doesn't matter, forget it."

But as she passed him to reach to a filing cabinet, he caught her by the arm and pulled her to him.

"Now darling, I have never known you to shed so many tears, apart from at a wedding, and so something must be wrong. So tell me, what is it?"

Unable to take any more false impressions or joking, when all she wanted to do was scream or cry, Jane Moneypenny, for the first time in years, relented and allowed herself to raise her voice in anger.

"James will you ever understand? You go on missions for months at a time, dealing with some of the world's most dangerous people; and I spend night after night worrying about you, and then you return and we indulge in a bit of witty banter and the odd innuendo and you're off again," she finished, breathless.

There came no reply and so her outpourings continued.

"I know that I have no right to expect anything from you; I really shouldn't even care for you, but I do. I just can't help it James. I don't even expect anything from you now you know all of this; but I can't go on working here and seeing you come and go, wondering if each time you leave, you'll eventually come back and maybe then I can tell you my feelings . . over that dinner which we never get round to."

A long silence ensued, Moneypenny exhausted and James simply stunned.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this? We've talked often enough; you're one of my closest friends Penny."

Jane laughed softly, "James don't try and tell me that you had no idea how I felt about you?"

"I had hoped that you felt as close to me as I did to you; but I had no idea that I was hurting you so. I care for you, a great deal; I've been a fool not taking you to dinner," teased James, as he sensed Penny's humour returning.

"Yes you have Commander Bond, more than you know."

And in that moment, 007 saw how truly beautiful this woman was to him; with her fiery hair and warm chocolate coloured eyes. And in that moment, 007 saw how crazy he must have been to waste years teasing her; the woman he knew meant so much more to him than any exotic fling he had experienced.

And so, it was in that moment, that James reached out, took Jane's face in his hands, and brushed her lips with his own. Penny leaned into his touch and sighed as his arms pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

James' tongue begged for entrance and was granted it, as Jane lost herself in the feel of his lips upon hers and his hair in between her fingers.

Moments later, Moneypenny was reminded of her virtual reality experience, as Bond, hands roaming around her body, backed her up towards her desk and lifted her to sit on it.

"Wait," Jane managed on reluctantly breaking the kiss. "Not here," she begged, not wanting to be interrupted or, come to think of it, uncomfortable.

Bond rested his forehead on hers for a few seconds, both trying to catch their breath.

"Well, come on then," he said, planting a short but firm kiss on her swollen lips, before leading her out of the building.

In the lobby, James whispered something to a security guard, who swiftly led the out of the door, and bundled them into an official car.

"But James," Penny protested, "we both have cars in the car park!"

"True, true," but if one of us was driving, then we wouldn't be able o do this, -" he explained, pulling her onto his lap; both parties grateful that the back seat of the car was spacious, and hidden from the driver behind a soundproof screen.

Upon arrival at James' apartment, the chauffeur opened the door to find two rather dishevelled passengers who, after a mumbled, 'thank you,' stumbled along the path and disappeared into the building; unable to keep their hands off each other.

Reaching James' door, he fumbled for the key, whilst still kissing Moneypenny, who found herself pinned against the door.

Once they finally got into the apartment, she returned the favour and backed James into the wall, firmly planting her hands at either side of his head. As she was now the aggressor, James was free to do as he pleased, and whilst dotting light, tantalising kisses down her neck, his hands snaked around her hips before wandering south, where he began to fully appreciate the feminine form which he had so often admired across the desk.

Finally, with one deep, long kiss, Jane felt herself being lifted by her hips; James was eager to move to the bedroom, and was surprised by how instinctively, and without hesitation, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Reaching the bedroom, James placed his lover on the bed, before straddling her waist and beginning to remove what little clothing remained. As his hand went to Jane's final blouse button, she covered it with her own.

"Wait, James," she breathed, "are you sure you want to do this? I mean, unlike most of your companions, I will still be here in the morning, not in the office calling you at a convenient time to save you the pain of having to talk to the person next to you."

James smiled a little, amused at the fact that she actually thought herself as passable of a diversion as his usual conquests.

"Oh my darling," he whispered and, feeling that more words would be superfluous, he silenced his love with a kiss.


End file.
